Mormons and Muslims Similar in Many Ways

Back in 2005 Robert Velarde and Eric Johnson co-wrote an article for the CRI Journal comparing Mormons and Muslims. The authors looked at four areas of differences (i.e., views of Creation, God, Jesus, and humankind’s final state) and four areas of similarities (i.e., origins, scripture, restoration, and the human condition).

In 2008 the Los Angeles Timesreported on a growing bond between Muslims and Mormons. The article noted a statement made by a BYU professor to the effect that positive Mormon attitudes toward Islam had resulted in (among other things) “Mormonism’s being called the Islam of America.”

In 2010 Aaron Shafovaloff explained to Mormon Coffee readers that LDS apologist and leading scholar on Islam, Daniel Peterson, was unwilling or unable to take a position on whether Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, was a false prophet or “a genuine prophet of some sort.”

In 2012 Huffington Post contributor Eliza Wood asked “Are Mormons Closer to Muslims or Christians?” Before providing readers with a list of 19 similarities between Islam and Mormonism, Ms. Wood wrote, “While in some ways neither Islam nor Mormonism is very much like Christianity, the two faiths actually have a lot of similarities.”

And that brings us to today as yet another similarity between Mormons and Muslims has appeared – this in the area of public relations. The Christian Post reports that controversial billboards are showing up around Columbus, Ohio that state, “Jesus is Muslim,” “Muhammad is in the Bible,” and “Muslims love Jesus too,” The organization responsible for the billboards is ask-a-muslim.com. This organization insists, “When you have questions about Islam, ask a Muslim.” On the website, under the heading “Jesus was Muslim,” is this declaration:

“Muslims are Christians

“For starters, Muslims are Christians – if ‘Christian’ means someone following the teachings of Christ, so by learning about Islam you are not disobeying Jesus…

“Muslims are following the teachings of Jesus, while most Christians have began to follow the Church – this is why the Quran needed to be revealed. (Holy Quran 9:31)…

“Please remember Islam = following Jesus. Muhammad confirmed Jesus.”

Ask-a-muslim.com is a group of Muslims who live in Ohio. They are

“dedicated to educating you about Islam, giving you a chance to hear about Islam from practicing Muslims… We invite people to have an open discourse with us. All we ask you to do, is ask us whatever questions you have about Islam, and we’ll gladly and honestly answer them. We believe that clearing up the many misconceptions about Islam will make this world a better place. A place with less violence and hatred, filled with mutual respect and understanding.”

How does the statement, “Muslims are Christians” clear up misconceptions about Islam? How does the claim “Islam = following Jesus” foster greater understanding of the religion and its adherents?

According to Velarde and Johnson,

“Muslims do acknowledge Jesus as a great prophet and accept His virgin birth,sinlessness,and miracles, but they adamantly reject His deity as well as His death by crucifixion. Some Muslims argue that someone else died in the place of Jesus.Because Muslims often interpret in a literal fashion the Christian doctrine of God ‘begetting’ a Son, they hold that Christians add another being to the nature of God. This is blasphemous to the Islamic mindset, since Allah is the only God and can therefore have no companions.”

Likewise, when Mormons talk about Jesus there is a theological disconnect between what Mormonism teaches and the biblical Christ:

“Latter-day Saints affirm the divinity of Christ and His virgin birth, miracles, and bodily resurrection. This may seem orthodox, but a closer look at LDS teaching reveals significant points of disagreement with Christian positions on these doctrines. For instance, while LDS leaders say Jesus is the ‘Son of God’ and ‘the Only Begotten Son in the flesh,’ they do not hold that He is God in the flesh or the second person of the Trinity. In Mormon theology, Jesus is one god among many. Also, Mormons have claimed that the virgin birth involved a physical union between God the Father and Mary.” (Velarde and Johnson)

“‘Although we support the Islamic community’s right to free speech, as well as their right to post messages on billboards, we do not support the hi-jacking of the name of Jesus Christ in their attempt to lure uninformed Christians into their religion,’ Coach Dave Daubenmire said.

“Daubenmire continued, ‘Jesus Christ was crucified, died, and resurrected over 600 years before the birth of Mohammed. Although Islam honors Jesus as a prophet, they do not believe that He is the risen Son of God. During this most Holy Lenten Season we find the messages on the billboards to be insensitive, dishonest and deserving of a response from concerned Christians. We will be on the streets to proclaim Jesus is NOT Muslim but Jesus is Lord!!’”

This is something I never saw coming. Mormons and Muslims now share an effort to be identified as Christians. They share the desire to have their respective religions recognized as the true religion of Jesus Christ. They share a willingness to spin and blur the truth in order to achieve their proselytizing goals. And because of all this, there is one more thing they share: Challenges to these misleading claims by Christians who are committed to stand firm for the truth, stand firm for the cause of Christ.

About Sharon Lindbloom

Sharon surrendered her life to the Lord Jesus Christ in 1979. Deeply passionate about Truth, Sharon loves serving as a full-time volunteer research associate with Mormonism Research Ministry. Sharon and her husband live in Minnesota.

22 Responses to Mormons and Muslims Similar in Many Ways

I dont remember if it was right before I went to Isreal or when I came back, But I posted under a former topic some things both Muslims and Mormons believe, and to no real surprise, No Mormon ever touched upon what I said.

i dont know how Muslims and Mormons can knowingly be so dishonest and think nothing of it. And besides being dishonest, feel thats both ok and that there saved.

Wow. I never realised how similar they are. This article kinda shook me a bit. There is scripture in Deut 28:64 & Deut 29:17 that speaks of people worshiping false gods of wood and stone, silver and gold. Just weird.

This is perfect for people who are willing to accept the narrative that both of these groups is pushing. For the truly ignorant, who won’t do the research themselves, they’ll accept the well honed arguments, which are actually half-truths and lies.
It’s not that difficult to look things up now days because the internet gives people access to an abundance of information. The trick is to sort it all out and assign legitimacy to it.

While Mormons want to claim that (Mormonism) is a restoration of first century Christianity, what we all know is that it’s an experiment in religious hyperbole. Joseph Smith and those who followed him in the leadership of Mormonism were a bunch of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of individuals who never met a strange idea they didn’t love and embrace. They truly epitomize that saying that the more convoluted and bizarre an idea is, the more cultists embrace it. It’s the very fact that an idea or concept is so off the wall that those with this type of mind set think it has to be true.
Of course Mormonism has a lot of similarities to Islam. Mormons can even find kindred spirits among atheists. With a hundred or so sects of Mormonism and with the bar set so incredible low for what a prophet is and with Biblical interpretation techniques that would make even a heretic blush, Mormonism can connect with about anything.
The fantasy world of Joseph Smith is a fools playground and perfect for those who use their emotions as a test for truth.

Slightly off topic perhaps but many years ago my wife & I came to know a Muslim family quite well. Religion was often discussed & it became clear to us that Islam was opposed, sometimes violently, to Christianity.
One of the most disturbing things I learned about their beliefs is the following & it shows beyond any doubt that Muslims are NOT & never can be, Christians.

In Shi’a Islamic tradition, Jesus will return again, but not alone. Rather, He will return with Muhammad al-Mahdi: the prophesied redeemer of Islam who, it is believed, will bring peace and justice by establishing Islam everywhere. Jesus will NOT come in glory, He will be come as a SERVANT, to carry out the wishes of His Muslim Lord & will kill all who do not convert to Islam.

Ps. Mormons actually go one better than Muslims in the polygamy stakes, they can have as many wives as they like. Muslims can have only four with the exception of Mohammed who was allowed eight.

Od Man,
Haha. That is true. Some believe in only 2 wives. I had a muslim ask me once to be his second wife. He said he was already married to one wife but islam allowed him one more. He seemed nice enough but alas I had to decline his offer.
This just makes me very nervous. These religions both include Jesus as a redeemer or servent but are obviously false for multiple reasons yet these people believe so strongly in their faith. Its so easy to mislead people into following a lie. My experience has made me double careful about what I believe to be true. Now if I dont see it for myself in scripture I toss it out.

” Muslims are Christians ” , and ” Muslims are following the teachings of Jesus….” .
I guess we should have expected this type of slick advertising from a Muslim organization by now.

One thing is for sure : if Muslims would dismiss the teachings of their prophet and proceed to
actually stay with the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament , they would not remain Muslims
for very long . Same for Mormons .

Well its the interpretation that they take from the NT scriptures. Muslims don’t use the NT because they have their own teaching of JC. LDS may have the NT but they take things out of context and twist them to fit their own doctrine.

Past Mormon leadership, didn’t want to identify with Christianity. They strove to be different. That was their selling point. Christianity was seen as defined by creeds that were abominable. Mormons had living prophets, one in particular, that claimed to have restored first century Christianity. The problem has been that there isn’t much in this restoration that can be proven to have existed in the first century. This would include millions, perhaps billions of gods in the universe, men becoming gods on various planets through out the cosmos by following some sort of panacea Mormon system which changes with each generation of Mormon leadership, polygamy and on and on.
This later feature, polygamy, could stand as a link between Muslims and Mormons however I don’t know how the former group would feel about multiple gods and men becoming gods.
Fact of the matter is that Christianity has nothing in common with the two groups mentioned here. The attempt to draw some sort of connection is dishonest and a way of drawing people in by pretending to be something they are not.

Long time lurker, resigned in person with the Bishop last Sunday. Just found this link, don’t how true the information is in this video but I never heard before that Mohammed used a golden tablet. Kind of interesting video and on topic.

Thanks Mike R. I have read a lot of your comments as well as all the regulars. It seems the threads get more interesting if we get Mormon commenters. Kind of light on those in the last few posts. Just a side note; my ex-wife and son also resigned (different ward, same building, different bishop) the same day I did. Interesting story but off topic. You may be seeing me here a lot more. Been a Christian since Oct 2012.

I hope you have benefited in some way by what I have posted , I’ve been here for 5 years and
have tried to reach Mormons with the truth about Jesus in a way that shows them respect as
people etc . Sometimes we get lots of Mormons posting here and sometimes it is lean , but
whatever the case may be we still share pertinent information that lurkers need to know .
The greatest blessing for me on here is to hear of another Mormon who has discovered the
truth about their leaders and have done the right thing and walked away from them as authorities
in their lives , and have turned to the real Jesus for salvation .
There are a great bunch of ex-Mormons on here who I have learned a lot from .
( My wife is a former Jehovah’s witness , we minister to them as well as Mormons — two big
false prophet led organizations . )

Flax,
Yes, Muslim and Mormonism are definately fruit of the same putrid tree. I could throw some other doctrines in there with it but for the sake of topic I wont go there.
Wow! I am happy to hear the news of you and your family leaving the church. That is awesome! What was the defining moment for you to make that decision?

Flax,
As the senior member of the regular posters I want to personally welcome to MC. You have my permission to present your story. In fact I’d appreciate it if you did. It is a great encouragement to those of us who’ve been at this a long time. I think rick may have me by about thirty minutes in terms of longevity on this blog but I’m older and the only one who can straighten him out when needed!
Right rick?

Ok Falcon,
Because you brought it up, I guess I will have to share the facts with you. lol
Here is the very first topic ever posted, the date it was first posted, and the first and only person to ever post on this topic was me. So I was the very first person ever to post on this blog, and I was here so to speak before the blog existed, I was posting in the Q/A section and out of the, I believe 53 questions, I answered allbut two of them.

Sad News
Posted on January 7, 2006 by Sharon Lindbloom
It is with sadness that I note the deaths of 3 LDS missionaries in 5 days. On Monday (1/2/2006) Morgan W. Young was shot and killed in Virginia, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was reportedly killed by a man fleeing the scene of a drug deal gone bad. On Friday (1/6/2006) Bradley J. Isle and Jonathan R. Talmadge were killed in a head-on collision in New Zealand.
My prayers go out to the grieving families of these young men. May they be comforted by the God of all comfort.
1 Comment

So I happen to be the most senior person on this blog, and I beat you by more than 30 minutes.

rick,
Here’s the problem. It all comes down to quality! According to the recent marketing survey done by MRM of active Mormons visiting this site, I score 99.9% on accuracy of content, effectiveness of material presented and over-all likability. You are at 16% with your highest score being in likability. So I guess all is not lost. You will not have to take the Dale Carnege course after all.

Falcon, I’m guessing you have seen the movie, Monty python and the holy grail?
if so, let me say, lets not bicker over who killed who?

I also dont recall this survey you mention and dont care, I’m doing what God has called me to do and I’m faithful to do that. My life verse is Romans 2:1111, God does not show favoritism.

I love that verse because growing up as a new believer, people made me feel like the pastors, or Billy Graham’s of the world were closer to God and not people like me. But now after reading the word for myself, I know God does not do that, he loves me as much as the next person.

As long as I do what God asks and I’m faithful to him, I dont care what people think of me. As far as accuracy, were always being accused of being wrong by the Mormons, but that’s all they do is say were wrong they never prove it. And if you feel I’m wrong, you haven shown me either, so your just trying to get me going as usual, but that ok, what are friends for?